Eighty percent of the cost would be picked up by the state under the current school funding match, while the remaining 20 percent -- about $42 million -- would be paid by the city.

The renovation projects are part of the district's capital budget requests for next year. The board will act on the proposals at its Jan. 27 meeting. It will then be up to the city to determine what to bond.

Jorge Garcia, deputy director of public facilities, said the three schools are next in line, based on their age and physical condition.

"It is an aggressive plan, and this is just the starting point," Garcia said.

It was clear during Garcia's school board presentation this week that many of the new members had questions about how costs are determined and how the pecking order is established for these projects.

Renovating Bassick, Garcia said, would help the district complete its high school upgrades.

Central High School will undergo renovations this summer and a new Harding High School -- to be built on the site of the former GE plant off Boston Avenue -- is in the permit and planning stage.

Last August, the district opened the $125 million Fairchild Wheeler Interdistrict complex. The facility is home to three science high schools, and for the time being, the Bridgeport Military Academy High School.

At Bassick, there are complaints of leaky roofs, even after repairs have been made. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, in giving Bassick an accreditation warning last month, expressed serious concerns about the condition of the school.

The organization called the school "outdated" and unable to fully support learning.

Jacqueline Kelleher, the school board's vice chairwoman, said she hopes the Bassick project would address NEASC concerns so the school's warning doesn't turn into probation. Or worse.

"Our students deserve better," said Joanne Kennedy, a Bassick parent, who told the new school board that Bassick has been at the bottom of the renovation list for too long.

The Blackham facelift would be the 50-year-old school's first such upgrade. Blackham also needs a more efficient energy system, officials said.

The Winthrop upgrade would potentially replace three portable classrooms and also make the school look new.

Peluchette described his portable classroom as clean. The room he was moved to inside the main building had to be painted, cleaned and stripped of moldy ceiling tiles.

The district also wants to replace four school security vehicles and four maintenance vehicles, and replace fire alarms at five schools, along with upgrading the heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems at five schools.